Malcolm Gladwell teaches you to make hits...
A fascinating video clip from the New Yorker Festival on the science of hit movies.
Like this post? Click here to subscribe to the blog.
Like this post? Click here to subscribe to the blog.
posted by Jesse Thorn at Thursday, October 19, 2006
6 Comments:
If they ever make a live action Simpsons movie, This guy has to play Sideshow Bob.
stevendee, the malcolm gladwell/slideshow bob comparison is an old retread, you should be ashamed.
Thanks for the link... I've long thought Gladwell to be the best essayist alive, he's nearly as interesting a speaker, it would seem, but I've never seen him speak at length before, so this is great. I also appreciate that he's not an anti-sports snob, because he's turned me on to some great sports writing.
I am currently hanging my head in shame. I realized after watching the whole the thing (and using wikipedia) that I am totally familiar with The Tipping Point, but I have never seen a picture of him. He does have some of the best speaking skills I've ever seen. I am currently in a speech class, so I was taking notes while watching this. Does he speek very often?
I've seen him speak on CSPAN before. I stopped flipping channels because I thought, "Who is this Sideshow Bob looking guy on Book Talk?"
His technique is identical to his New Yorker pieces -- intruiging idea and a lot of storytelling. It was odd that at the end of the whole thing, he admits that he really doesn't know if it works.
I was kind of like, "isn't that the point of giving the talk?"
Yea, I thought that was weird too. I guess it's that whole objective reporter mind-set thingy.
he seems to love systems and ideas that explain or predict things that have no obvious explanation or where the conventional methods for doing so are inefficient. He had a great piece a few months back about a system for evaluating NBA players that makes much more sense than anything I had seen before.
I think you're right in that there is a certain aimlessness to his writing where he allows a few sources to be his guide on a deep exploration of a subject. Sometimes he misses the point, is led to a shaky conclusion or just comes out on the other end more confused and misguided than when he began. It's like the point in this talk where he realizes that these people aren't all that happy with what they've discovered. He builds up very nicely to this letdown
A note about the hair, I read once that he encounters problems with police far more often and has much greater difficulty catching a cab since growing his hair out. It may be racial, but he does have that insane sort of vibe.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home